Grant County forms work group to explore alternatives to jail beds

Grant County officials formed a local Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council work group on Sept. 2 to explore options for reducing jail overcrowding after sheriff’s office and court leaders outlined immediate measures and data needs.

"We're thinking in our coverage, our teams. Is there more that we can do to try to get our jail population down?" the sheriff said, proposing ideas that included weekend sentencing for short terms, community work crews and an expanded home-detention program.

The sheriff described staffing constraints and said the county would gather numbers on currently sentenced inmates and evaluate whether weekend sentencing or a work-crew model could be implemented quickly. He also asked judges and municipal law-enforcement leaders to consider increased citations and on-site diversion instead of jail transports where appropriate.

Board members volunteered to serve on the work group. Participants recorded in the meeting included the sheriff, Judge McVicker, Jocelyn Whitaker, Scott (prosecutor) and Melissa; the chair treated the formation as a motion, which the sheriff seconded and the board approved by voice vote.

Officials emphasized trade-offs: one county official noted sending inmates to out-of-county beds had been planned but that doing so increased county expense and could become a long-term crutch. Another member provided a per-inmate figure discussed at the meeting — roughly $40 per day to house an inmate in county custody — and said reducing even small numbers could free funds for local priorities.

Members asked staff to schedule the first work-group meeting as soon as possible and to produce baseline counts (how many inmates are currently sentenced, out-of-county placements and medical-cost drivers) that the group can use to evaluate proposals.

Ending: The work group will meet and report recommendations to the full J-RAC; staff were tasked with circulating calendar invites and initial data for the first meeting.